Recently, there have been concerns over the schools regulating the Internet and penalizing students should they talk smack about a teacher online. Others say that the school is hindering free speech on the Internet. In my opinion, schools shouldn't be regulating the Internet whatsoever. If there is a cyberbullying issue going on, it is the student's responsibility. The Internet, in general, has no relation to schools at all. People should have the right to express themselves.
Schools shouldn't be regulating any actions done by children off the school premises. After all, any cyber-related activity (that originated off school campus, of course), should not be handled by school administrators. The students need a place to vent their anger and frustration with a teacher, and a forum or blog is a great place to do so. People can share and express their opinions. As long as they are not making any kinds of threats or conspiracy to destroy this teacher, or teacher's property, it should be perfectly fine. Any kinds of bullying that occurs outside of school, Internet or not, should not be handled by the school. However, if the student logs on to a forum or blog in school, this is when the schools have the right to intervene, because the students are communicating like so on their property.
Which leads me to my next topic, regulating the Internet in school. Schools certainly have the right to limit the Internet in school. From my knowledge, schools have blocked most social networking sites, blogs, and forums. Obviously, this would be a violation of the computer use agreement the student signed in the beginning of the year, and the student should be punished for that as well. But, anything that occurs outside of school on the Internet shouldn't have any regulation by the school system. It is the parent's responsibility, because the child is on the computer in their house, on their network, and using Facebook or any other blog or forum on their time. Hindering free speech by schools is a direct violation of privacy and expression, which is in the Constitution.
If a student wants to express themselves on the Internet, they shouldn't be allowed to if it is a situation where they are talking smack about someone. This goes back to a point I made earlier. If the student is using their own computer at home, and using that computer on their own home network, then the school shouldn't have any business involved. However, if the student is using a computer located on the school premises, that means the computer belongs to the Board of Education, and the network is regulated by the Board of Education. Legally, the student signed an agreement with the school system that computer usage is done so on the Board of Education's terms. So if there was an instance of cyberbullying on the school network, the Board of Education has a legal right to intervene because it is a violation of the contract. When the student is logged on at home and decides to make a group on Facebook that allows people to express their opinion on a teacher that they don't like to well, they are not under contract on their home network. They also do not violate the school contract, unless it specifically states "A student is not allowed to post anything disparaging against a teacher on any blog, forum or social networking site." I'm pretty sure most contracts don't have that.
In conclusion, a school has no right to hinder free speech on the Internet, as long as no threats are being made. If a threat is being made, a school can take action. So there are limits. But if a student is expressing frustration with a teacher, even going to the point where they say they hate the teacher, the school should still not get involved. That is unless, the issue originated on a school computer, which is where a student violates contract. Anything that happens out of school is the parents, or students responsibility.
Schools shouldn't be regulating any actions done by children off the school premises. After all, any cyber-related activity (that originated off school campus, of course), should not be handled by school administrators. The students need a place to vent their anger and frustration with a teacher, and a forum or blog is a great place to do so. People can share and express their opinions. As long as they are not making any kinds of threats or conspiracy to destroy this teacher, or teacher's property, it should be perfectly fine. Any kinds of bullying that occurs outside of school, Internet or not, should not be handled by the school. However, if the student logs on to a forum or blog in school, this is when the schools have the right to intervene, because the students are communicating like so on their property.
Which leads me to my next topic, regulating the Internet in school. Schools certainly have the right to limit the Internet in school. From my knowledge, schools have blocked most social networking sites, blogs, and forums. Obviously, this would be a violation of the computer use agreement the student signed in the beginning of the year, and the student should be punished for that as well. But, anything that occurs outside of school on the Internet shouldn't have any regulation by the school system. It is the parent's responsibility, because the child is on the computer in their house, on their network, and using Facebook or any other blog or forum on their time. Hindering free speech by schools is a direct violation of privacy and expression, which is in the Constitution.
If a student wants to express themselves on the Internet, they shouldn't be allowed to if it is a situation where they are talking smack about someone. This goes back to a point I made earlier. If the student is using their own computer at home, and using that computer on their own home network, then the school shouldn't have any business involved. However, if the student is using a computer located on the school premises, that means the computer belongs to the Board of Education, and the network is regulated by the Board of Education. Legally, the student signed an agreement with the school system that computer usage is done so on the Board of Education's terms. So if there was an instance of cyberbullying on the school network, the Board of Education has a legal right to intervene because it is a violation of the contract. When the student is logged on at home and decides to make a group on Facebook that allows people to express their opinion on a teacher that they don't like to well, they are not under contract on their home network. They also do not violate the school contract, unless it specifically states "A student is not allowed to post anything disparaging against a teacher on any blog, forum or social networking site." I'm pretty sure most contracts don't have that.
In conclusion, a school has no right to hinder free speech on the Internet, as long as no threats are being made. If a threat is being made, a school can take action. So there are limits. But if a student is expressing frustration with a teacher, even going to the point where they say they hate the teacher, the school should still not get involved. That is unless, the issue originated on a school computer, which is where a student violates contract. Anything that happens out of school is the parents, or students responsibility.